Fraccers

From Reuters:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Legendary film star Paul Newman, whose brilliant blue eyes, good looks and talent made him one of Hollywood’s top actors over six decades has died at age 83 after a long battle with cancer.

Newman died on Friday night at his farmhouse near Westport, Connecticut, said his Los Angeles-based spokesman Jeff Sanderson.

“His death was as private and discreet as the way he had lived his life, a humble artist who never thought of himself as ‘big,’ surrounded by his beloved family and the close circle of friends,” said a statement released by his family on Saturday.

Another admirable write-up, discussing his 50 year marriage to Joanne Woodward, can be found at Time.

Newman, who died Friday at 83 after a long battle with cancer, was not just the iconic movie star of his age — he was one of the last public figures to lead an exemplary life.

Most people will probably write about the loss of a fine actor and celebrity. Most will herald all his films, show photos of him in ‘character’, bemoaning what a loss it is that he passed away.

I’d like to be different. I’d like to leave you with a few quotes that show why the people who were in his personal life are the ones who have lost the most. Who should care about the rest of us?  The ordinary world has only lost someone they will replace as easily as the next attractive male actor to come along; his family and friends have lost someone who believed (and said) the following. It is they we should be sorrowful for.

• “I don’t like to discuss my marriage, but I will tell you something which may sound corny but which happens to be true: I have steak at home, why should I go out for hamburger?”
• “People stay married because they want to, not because the doors are locked.”
• “I’m not a professional philanthropist, and I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer who puts back into the soil what he takes out.”
• “The concept that a person who has a lot holds his hand out to someone who has less, or someone who isn’t hurting holds his hand out to someone who is, is simply a human trait that has nothing to do with celebrity.”
• “I’d like to be remembered as a guy who tried — tried to be part of his times, tried to help people communicate with one another, tried to find some decency in his own life, tried to extend himself as a human being. Someone who isn’t complacent, who doesn’t cop out.”

May he rest in peace, and may there be peace for his family and friends.

[Photo Source: AC | Associated Content]